


To give it all

by AMidnightDreary, Rabentochter



Series: Frostiron Advent Calendar 2019 [14]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adrenaline, Adventure, Bickering, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Flirting, Happy Ending, Humor, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, M/M, Oblivious Tony Stark, Pining, Pining Loki (Marvel), Robbery, Space Pirates, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21790525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMidnightDreary/pseuds/AMidnightDreary, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabentochter/pseuds/Rabentochter
Summary: When Tony agreed to join Loki for adventures in space, he didn't expect to end up wading through mud, a crate on his hip and having way more fun than he'd ever expected.
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Series: Frostiron Advent Calendar 2019 [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558924
Comments: 38
Kudos: 361





	To give it all

**Author's Note:**

  * For [greenishio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenishio/gifts).



> Happy December 14th, Fel 💕

“Let’s go on a space adventure,” Tony said mockingly as he waded through mud. There were leaves sticking to his face. “‘ _It’ll be fun_ ,’ he said.”

“I remember you agreeing enthusiastically in joining me, Stark.” Loki threw an amused look over his shoulder, a hand glowing green as they continued walking. It was a slow trod and Tony rather did not think about how often something was running against his legs, feeling slimy and _cold_. 

“It is not my fault that you did not think about the possibility of getting dirty.”

“If I get dirty,” Tony said, “then I do that either in my workshop or with someone else.”

Loki tsked. “Am I not someone else then?”

“No. You’re the asshole who convinced me to steal a crate from a building which was obviously a temple and _then_ had me running through the market and led us here now. To this swamp.” Tony squeezed his eyes shut as mud was dripping down his forehead, a cold thing, slimey. Like the things in the water. Maybe it was just mud too. Who knew?

“If you had bothered to ask then you would have known that Caduceus is a planet full of swamps and lakes.”

“You could have just told me.” Tony rolled his eyes. “I thought we were _friends_ ,” he added in a dramatic tone.

Loki only chuckled at that and grabbed a low hanging branch. “Can you reach that?” he asked him.

Tony stared at it, blinked, looked to Loki. “If I use you as ladder then I sure can, you’re tall enough.”

“Why have you been born so short?” Loki sighed and held his hand out.

“Short? I’ve been born with the perfect height, thank you very much. It’s you and this planet which are ridiculously tall, _not me_.”

Loki snorted softly before he wrestled him up in the air. With one hand. Tony reached for the branch and pulled himself up easily, not truly …

Let’s just say even after two weeks of flying through space with Loki, he still wasn’t used to his partner being that strong. Or, having magic.

“Stark, move, unless you want me to sit on you.”

“Anytime, as long as it’s not here.” Tony robbed a bit forward, the branch creaking quietly and it definitely didn’t worry him at all. “Is that thing stable enough to carry both of us?”

“I wouldn’t endanger your life on accident,” came Loki’s not so assuring reply from behind.

“But on purpose?”

“You endanger your life on purpose all by yourself, I am but a simple man, aiding you in your most noble endeavours.”

Tony snorted at that and stopped as he reached the thick trunk. “We’re going down?”

“Up. If I see where we are, I can teleport us closer to the ship.”

“Sometimes it’s really inconvenient that you can’t teleport when you don’t know where you are.”

“Isn’t it always.”

“See, we all have our flaws. I’m on a planet that’s too tall for me and you can’t use your cool voodoo magic whenever you want to. And am I making fun of you for that? _No._ ”

“You are a hero.” Loki patted his back and for a moment, Tony thought Loki’s hand was lingering there on his dirty back but then he drew it already back. “Now, up with you. I trust you to know how to climb a tree?”

Tony didn’t deign that worthy of an answer and started to climb the trunk up. His hands often slid away because he had no real hold but Loki _somehow_ always was close enough to make sure he wouldn’t fall. It was cute. 

And unlike with how it’d been with the Avengers, Tony didn’t feel as if this was merely to prevent his death to circumvent annoying paperwork. The Avengers had been infinitely more fun ever since Thor brought Loki down to Earth after he'd discovered his ruse of pretending to be their dad; which, _hilarious_. Tony had to give Loki that and since he and Rogers just split up in Siberia - 

Fair game to get him his own new magician on board, right?

Admittedly, he and Rogers did _talk_ recently after Thanos had been there, trying to conquer the universe as one just does apparently, and shit had been cleared up between them with lots of rude and polite words, but –

Tony had this flaw that resentment never really went away unless people put effort into their supposed apologies and promises to do better. And it didn’t feel like Rogers had. How easily he’d replaced Tony’s tech and his _money_ with the one from Shuri and Wakanda, and got his new _best friend_ Bucky on board and –

He swallowed the anger down and continued climbing upwards. These trees here were so fucking tall that even California Redwoods looked like a joke to them. He was lucky he didn’t have a fear of heights, and he was only wondering on the side if the oxygen shouldn’t be getting thinner at some point but he kept climbing. Oxygen, pfft.

Loki was behind him, and okay, so, Tony was here because he wanted to escape the Avengers and Loki had _been fun_ to be around with as they were battling Thanos and all that; so Tony had seen no use in denying the Trickster’s offer at going into space.

The branches were getting too thin.

“Loki?” He said as he watched a branch tumble down and it became smaller. And smaller.

“How much further up do we need to go?” Loki asked him calmly.

“Maybe about a hundred foot?”

“Keep climbing.”

“ _WHAT?”_

“The branches will be safe for a bit longer.”

“One just _broke off_.”

“There’s always a weak link.” Loki sounded way too calm at this.

“No.”

“Stark.”

“I _hate_ you.” Tony kept climbing, and wished he could close his eyes but he didn’t do that because _reasons_. The further he went up, the more he became aware of how far away everything was.

He was _alone_ and this was potentially dangerous, moreso than the theft earlier. All right, people had shot with exploding arrows after them but Loki had made sure there was good cover in the market and –

Tony remembered the feeling of laughing and it started to bubble up in him as he climbed up, claiming the mountain of a tree and his head started to feel lighter. His senses were sharper, aware of the trunk he was holding onto and how easy it was to just _fall_ and let go, but he kept climbing.

His hands hurt from all the strength and he was panting from extortion but he kept going on, feeling drunk on adrenaline and he pushed himself up –

The next branch was a finger too far up but –

Tony licked his lips, tested the swing of his branch, could feel it creaking below him but the flexibility was _still good enough_ and he could only hear Loki muttering something that sounded suspiciously like his name before he jumped

There were idiots in the world, he knew that. He certainly belong to them in an odd minute but not in this, his mind running with numbers and he gripped the branch, his feet crashing against the trunk and he run upwards –

His hand already reached for the next branch and this was madness but Tony started to laugh, the air _finally_ getting thin and he climbed –

 _Like a squirrel_ , his mind supplied him helpfully and he couldn’t help but laugh more and a few branches later, the last _thick_ ones, he stopped, resting his head against the trunk.

“You are mad,” Loki panted as he came to stop on the branch.

His body pressed against Tony’s, wonderfully cold.

“But the view is good.” Tony pointed at the side, holding balance on one foot alone.

This rush of excitement, the adrenaline –

And the planet below them looked so _small_ , fog was covering various spots and a few trees around them were up to their height, some even taller and it felt like Tony could touch the sky from where he was. It was _fantastic_.

“Beautiful,” Loki admitted quietly and he pulled Tony against his body with an arm around his waist, his eyes sparkling in the purple light of the sun. Tony nodded and let himself slump backwards, and Loki’s fingers tightened around him.

Then, a green shimmer covered them and they were pulled backwards, forward, sideways, everything at once and it felt so _strange_ , like Tony wasn’t in his body anymore and his eyes were closed as he trusted Loki to get them back to the ship. 

The crate was still hanging at his hip.

As soon as they materialised in front of the ship, Loki pushed him inside of it.

“So,” Tony said as he sat down on the old couch he’d insisted on. “What did I risk my neck for?”

“Open it and we’ll see.” Loki grinned at him, his hair dishevelled, a single strand hung in his face and he sat down next to Tony on the couch.

Had it been anyone else than Loki it would have looked horrible, a simple flop down but the Norse god made it look elegant, a fluid movement and he looked as excited as Tony had felt on the tree. Tony wanted to climb on the tree again, bath in the purple light and simply _enjoy_ the adrenaline rushing through him, death calling for him below but he ignored it and ran higher, further –

“You don’t even know what we stole?” Tony asked Loki with a grin.

“No. It looked like a challenge and a great opportunity to cause chaos, what more reason do I need?”

“Some people would call that rude.”

“What a fortune we aren’t some.” Loki pointed at the crate.

Tony chuckled then opened the crate quickly, threw the old lock away that was rusted and –

“A cactus.” He looked at Loki. “We went through all that hassle for a _cactus_?”

It was a small cactus, green only in some spots, mostly black and the thorns were all laying to the side, having fallen off already. It was … disappointing.

His mouth twitched.

“A cactus,” he repeated in disbelief and shortly after, he started to laugh.

It was simply _hilarious_ ; they’ve breached Caduceus’ barrier by attacking the grid with illusion from them, entered the planet on a different place and then strolled through the city, had lunch with Loki where they’d tried bird and edible rocks, served together with meat from the Froukensnake which was famous here. The meat had tasted of syrup and honey with a hint of chicken.

Tony couldn’t stop laughing as he looked at the cactus in the crate; the soldiers had tried to _kill them_ for a fucking _cactus_ and he couldn’t –

“I’m sure it’s a lovely decoration for the bedroom,” Loki said and he said it with such sincerity, it made Tony laugh anew.

“Such a small thing?” he asked, wheezing.

Loki tilted his head amused. “I would be open to exchange that small thing for another _small_ thing.”

Tony stared back at him. That was meant to tell him something, right? Small, _small, -_

“ _Oooh_.”

Loki groaned.

“No, no,” Tony said and he looked amused at his travel companion. “My brain was only temporarily offline and we already stated that I am _not small_ , so –“

“Unbelievable,” Loki muttered. “I take you with me to travel through space, have _dates_ or what would be seen as dates and you don’t get a _hint,_ however big they are. But a _cactus,_ by the Norns, makes you see _reason_?”

“To be fair,” Tony cut in, “you never said anything.”

“I thought I was being obvious!”

“No.” Tony shook his head. “You weren’t.” He chuckled. “Okay, how about you ask me _now_ for a date, this time really though and then we can go and –“

“Go on a date with me.”

“I didn’t hear a question in this.”

“Stark, would you-“

“Call me Tony, unless you want to go on a date with my father.” He winked at Loki.

“ _Anthony,_ would you do me the great honour of going on a date with me _again_ just this time being aware that it is a _date_ and stop being so oblivious as to what is happening around you?”

“Sure.” Tony grinned at Loki and because he was still running on adrenaline – he thought – he leant forward and planted a kiss on Loki’s lips and drew back to the see the stunned face of the Trickster.

“Sounds good to me. You choose the location.” 


End file.
